WITH the first round of finals action in the books for the South West District Football League, attention now turns to semi-finals action tomorrow and Sunday, and with a grand final spot up for grabs it’s sure to be a hotly contested weekend of football.

Cavendish and Coleraine are set to do battle at Heywood Recreation Reserve tomorrow, with the winner to head straight through to the grand final in a fortnight, while the loser will have to go through the preliminary final to get there.

This will be the fourth matchup between the two sides since the beginning of the season, with Coleraine having claimed two victories thus far and Cavendish one.

After his side’s qualifying final victory over Tyrendarra, the Bloods’ senior coach Sam Gibson said it had been important for his group to emphasise that finals footy is a “whole different ball game” but that they needed to play the game on their own terms.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge of coming up against Coleraine to be honest… we know what to expect out of them in terms of the challenge they bring to the table and by the same token they’re familiar with us,” he said.

“I think it’s a case of us needing to bring what we know we’re capable of bringing to the table… I think over the two weeks prior to finals we got found out, if you don’t bring your best against the good sides in this competition, they’re going to run over the top of you.

“We know our style of play is good enough to beat any team when we’re at our best, we just need to make sure that we bring that best (tomorrow).

Coleraine’s senior coach Ryan McClure said his group is “fired-up” for the game tomorrow, adding that the first week bye certainly hasn’t halted their momentum.

“We had a training session on Saturday, but other than that it’s been business as usual,” McClure said.

“There’s no momentum lost… we think we’re well-prepared for (tomorrow).”

McClure said there was something to be said for the familiarity between the two sides, but that there was only so much that could be read into their prior experiences with Cavendish.

“I don’t think they’ve lined-up the exact same twice in any of the games we’ve played, so we can’t really rely on that at all… the only thing is that we know is the personnel to a degree,” he said.

“But we want to be in control of what we do… the attacking side comes naturally to us, we’re a high scoring side that’s certainly no secret, it’s sometimes been our defence which has let us down.

“The pressure is going to be on our mids and half-forwards to work back and give us the assistance we need.”

Darras and Lions gear up

One team will leave Sunday’s match with a chance at the grand final in their sights, and the other will leave with only next season to look forward to when Tyrendarra and Heywood go head-to-head at Dartmoor Oval.

The two sides have each won one game apiece this season against one another, but there’s only so much which can be made of prior matchups especially with these two sides.

The Darras are sporting close to as good a side as they could ask for at this stage, perhaps most notably their senior coach Sam Anson who was absent from the line-up both times they played Heywood.

Anson said while his side is coming off a disappointing result against Cavendish in the qualifying final, they’re more than ready to go for this week.

“It was a cracking game… and we’re really looking forward to heading out there against Heywood,” he said.

“There’s some areas we can learn from and take away from that game, but to be honest they’re completely different sides so we can’t expect to play both of them the same way.”

Anson said of particular concern was the Lions’ high-quality ball usage which he said would have to be front of mind for the Darras heading in.

“Although some of their guys might be on the back end, they’re very skilful and they certainly know how to use the ball well,” he said.

“We’re carrying a full-strength list, there’s going to be no excuses… but there’s an element of that which I think we need… knowing that there’s maybe no next week and that we have to leave it all out on the track.

“You can carry a different mentality when there’s that double-chance in the back of the head, and we don’t have that anymore.”

Meanwhile the Lions have welcomed the experience of Nathan Lovett-Murray into their ranks toward the end of the season, while the younger portion of their list will have benefitted from the opportunity to play in Sunday’s nail-biting elimination final.

“The veterans in our side have provided so much leadership and guidance to the group… I really think we’re just now coming together,” senior coach Sammy Walsh-Bannam said.

“(Tyrendarra) has always been a running team… the great challenge for us is to control their run.

“I think we’ll be pushed by the knowledge that there’s no next week… we’re the team coming off a win with our tails up, so we want that momentum in our favour.”

Reserves

In tomorrow’s second semi-final it will be minor premiers Coleraine who take on Dartmoor, who are coming off a win by the closest of margins over Cavendish, 46-45.

Coleraine has been dominant in both of the side’s contests so far this season, including a 215-point drubbing back in round four.

Still, the Maroons have shown on multiple occasions that they’re not unbeatable, most recently going down to Cavendish by 17 points in round 15.

Meanwhile, the Bloods will be travelling to Dartmoor to face off against Tyrendarra in a rematch of their round 16 clash.

These two have already faced off three times so far this season, with Cavendish winning their first and third matchups, while the Darras took the points back in round nine.